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He headed Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc after the opening hour in a promising early performance for the trio.
It was Verstappen who looked best placed, however, having spent the session on a single set of tyres.
Oscar Piastri was seventh fastest for McLaren while Daniel Ricciardo ended the running 12th best.
Aero rakes decorated Sergio Perez’s car in the early moments, his RB20 having received a host of upgrades.
That includes a new front wing and engine cover, the latter a clear change given the lack of ‘canons’ alongside the Red Bull drivers’ heads.
On soft tyres, Verstappen set the early pace in the other car, though the Dutchman was hardly pushing on.
He was the only driver to opt for the red-walled rubber out of the gates, with most on mediums – though a smattering fitted hards.
Using the same set of tyres throughout, and despite a comparatively late performance run, Verstappen was still second fastest.
Importantly, his car balance was neutral throughout his performance run, even tending towards understeer, suggesting a strong car on longer runs too – not to mention one gentle on its tyres.
Ferrari also had aero rakes on its cars in the opening minutes, the Scuderia introducing a new floor body this weekend.
Charles Leclerc was one of the few to use the hard rubber early on, the Monegasque driver appearing to enjoy a reasonable balance – though on a push lap the tyres gave up in the final corners.
That translated into encouraging single-lap pace, Leclerc going fastest with a 1:19.011s after his first performance run, dropping to second when Sainz completed his lap moments later.
The Spaniard was three-tenths better than his team-mate in what were promising early signs for the scarlet pair.
However, their longer runs were less impressive, with the car an increasing handful with a lively rear end.
At McLaren, Piastri missed the opening minutes of the session while, on track, Lando Norris struggled for balance.
Piastri finally emerged with 12 minutes having elapsed, promptly completing a practice start at pit exit.
The Australian’s pace was solid, all but matching Verstappen’s despite running on the medium rubber.
McLaren is the only team without upgrades in Hungary and it ran largely anonymously through the hour, with Norris sixth best, half a second back from Sainz, and Piastri just under half a tenth slower in sixth.
At RB, Yuki Tsunoda had the front-right corner of his car coated in flo-vis paint as the team assessed an upgrade to the front corner.
The same was evident on Daniel Ricciardo’s car, though more focused on the sidepod inlet.
After 20 minutes, the pace between the two was nearly identical, though Ricciardo was sawing at the wheel to get the front end to bite.
It wasn’t entirely without incident for Tsunoda, who had a moment with George Russell.
The Japanese driver was caught meandering on the racing line exiting Turn 1 as the Mercedes driver tried to pass the RB, pushing the Austrian GP winner onto the grass.
By the end of the session, the he and team-mate Ricciardo were on the fringes of the top 10 – Tsunoda just inside in eighth with his Australian colleague left three-tenths back in 12th on a 1:19.578s.
Mercedes was among the first to bolt on the soft tyres and head out on performance runs.
That briefly left Russell fastest with a 1:19.137s just after the halfway point of the session, with Lewis Hamilton a tenth slower in second fastest.
Russell’s best was almost seven-tenths faster than what Verstappen had recorded earlier – also on the soft tyres, though his focus was on longer runs more than single-lap performance at that point.
The Mercedes pair slipped to fourth for Russell and 10th for Hamilton after the performance runs.
It was a largely uneventful session, barring the odd moment of traffic, aside from a brief Virtual Safety Car.
That was called when Alex Albon picked up damage when he ran over the exit kerb at Turn 11, breaking part of a turning vane ahead of the right-hand sidepod inlet.
Deposited off the racing line but on the track, the Virtual Safety Car was employed so marshals could clear it without the need for further intervention.
A second hour of practice remains, beginning in Hungary at 17:00 local time (01:00 AEST).
